A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the art of methods and apparatuses related to automatically locking and unlocking vehicle passenger doors and more specifically to methods and apparatus related to automatically locking and unlocking selected vehicle passenger doors.
B. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the art to provide vehicle passenger doors with an automatic lock system. Current door lock system logic, for example, is used to lock the doors when the driver shifts the transmission out of park. When the driver shifts the transmission back into park, there are a few different known automatic door lock/unlock options: (1) one option unlocks the driver door only; (2) a second option unlocks all the passenger doors; and, (3) a third option does not adjust the locks of any passenger doors—they all remain locked.
While known door lock system logic generally works well for its intended purpose, there are known limitations. One limitation is that additional passenger door lock/unlock options may be desirable. Another limitation is that the understanding required to reprogram the door lock system logic is often lacking. These limitations to known door lock system logic result in customer complaints, higher warranty costs, and potential safety concerns if the wrong lock/unlock option is selected.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and apparatus that senses the condition of the door lock when the transmission is shifted out of park and returns the lock to the sensed condition when the transmission is shifted back into park.